Team Takato
Team Takato, also known as Kusa's Unofficial Team, is a team led by Takato Kishimi. Only one member, Kazō Yakusho, attended and graduated from the Academy. The other members, Oda Inagara and Avaki, were selected by Takato himself, to allow Kazō to be on a functioning team. He was originally intended to be dropped from the shinobi path due to the loss of his arm. Since the team is an unofficial one, they do not take on many missions. Takato put the team together on his own, so he is not treated like a standard sensei and is usually just given his normal jōnin missions. Much of the tasks completed by the team result from them being in the right place at the right time, when Takato is not around. After Avaki's presumed death at the end of Part I, the team has taken on even fewer missions. Early in Part II, it was decided that Kazō and Oda would be placed on an official team in order to properly utilize the skills they had shown over time. The were placed on Team Yon-Tao with Kasumi Mitou, and Team Takato was disbanded. History When the newest batch of Academy students was nearing their graduation, Takato decided to join his old teammates and become a sensei. Like other potential teachers, Takato was given the opportunity to scout out the students and see if any caught his eye. He hung around the schoolyard during training lessons and observed some of their academic work as well. While strolling around the students during a break, he came across Kazō Yakusho. The boy was by himself in a tree, carving a piece of wood into a kunai. Questioning why he was carving a kunai with a kunai only made the Kazō mad, and he threw his creation at Takato before jumping out of the tree. Takato examined the wooden blade and was quite impressed at the skilled work. After a bit more scouting, Takato took the files of students he found the most interesting. Among them was Kazō’s file. He realized Kazō was the student who had suffered injury a few years back and had lost his left arm. His file indicated poor stamina and no major jutsu training since then, with the addition of low chakra reserves now that he could move his prosthetic. As chakra flow was a difficult task for an Academy student to master, Takato found the boy’s determination appealing. When the final exams were over, two students had not graduated to genin. This threw the number of teams off, since there would be one genin without teammates. Takato joined the other teachers to discuss how they would handle the situation. Some thought they should drop the lowest scoring genin and have them remain with the two who failed for another year. Others brought up Kazō’s situation. Although the boy was starting to excel in traps and manipulation of tools with wire, he still lacked some of the basics due to his injury. Takato brought up Kazō’s chakra flow abilities, but the others said it only weakened his reserves to the point where fighting would be difficult past the genin level. A few teachers thought ending his ninja career altogether was the best course of action, though Takato was among those who thought otherwise. They soon agreed that it would be beneficial to hold Kazō back a year with the other two and see if he would be able to strengthen his abilities enough to warrant becoming a genin. From what he had seen of the boy, Takato questioned the decision. He felt Kazō could, given time and training, work things out to successfully complete missions. However, a student needed to be dropped and Kazō was the best choice. In order to prevent this, Takato asked to teach the boy himself. He would do so without two other students and ensure the boy would make it further. Realizing he would not back down, they agreed to place Kazō under Takato’s tutelage. As for the two who failed, they would just make sure enough new students arrived in order to create full teams. Although they would give Kazō this chance, Takato was technically not a standard sensei. He would continue to receive jōnin level missions and train the boy on his own time. Since they had doubts about Kazō’s chances, they wouldn’t lose a jōnin’s availability because he wanted to train a possible lost cause. Takato agreed to these terms and was made Kazō’s sensei. During the next few days, Takato discovered Oda Inagara and Avaki. Both boys were normal villagers, but Takato saw some potential in them. He decided to have them join Kazō to form a complete team. With this, Kazō could have a chance of living a successful shinobi life, especially since a three man team was needed to participate in the Chūnin Exams. Also, the time needed to train the two new boys from scratch would allow Kazō to train more and build his skills. Kazō was initially angered at the news of his team. He didn’t want the treatment out of pity. After Takato explained everything, the genin was willing to cooperate. He aided Takato in teaching Oda and Avaki to tap into their chakra. When training was fully underway, Takato would challenge Kazō’s wood manipulation with his earth release. He soon began sparring with Oda, who was showing a fair amount of skill in taijutsu, thanks to his unique ability. He was tough on the three because he wanted them to grow quickly, mostly so Kazō wouldn’t feel left behind compared to the rest of his generation. Kazō originally felt embarrassed with the false team and didn’t want his other friends to see him. Takato willingly gave into this sentiment and conducted most of their training outside of the village where they could also learn about other people and customs. Soon Team Takato was prepared to move forward with the Chūnin Exams; and only a year later than the official teams of Kusagakure. Official Missions Caravan Escort *'Rank:' C-rank *'Status:' Failure Takato assigned his team to escort a caravan to their home village. The task was a simple one, with the caravan's only rule being the genin do not go through their supplies. As the group set up camp for the night, the three patrolled the surrounding area. Before returning to the others, Oda decided to look in one of the carts. He found a young woman tied up inside. The caravan had hired the ninja to guard them as they got away with their actions. Oda and Kazō began a distraction while Avaki took the woman away. When Kazō and Oda finished, they went off after Avaki, leaving the caravan on their own. Guard a Family *'Rank:' D-rank *'Status:' Success Oda and Avaki travel to a small village to help guard a family. During a meal, Oda told the family about their ninja life while Avaki ate. After a few minutes, Avaki passed out at the table. Oda ran to the door to see if anyone was going to attack. When he checked on Avaki, he noticed several scratches appearing on his body. This confused him, until one of the family members started crying out and backing out of the room. Oda stayed with the man, but couldn't see anything attacking him. After a bit, Avaki's body was thrown out of its seat. Avaki stood and lashed out at nothing while still asleep. He eventually reached Oda, and began attacking him without realizing. In order to calm the other man down while this happened, Oda tried to knock him out. Once the man was struck, he seemed to snap out of his fear. Oda realized this must be the solution, and turned to his teammate. Avaki was against the wall, apparently being crushed. Oda hurried over and struck Avaki. He tried again and noticed Avaki partially snapping out of it. He pressed Avaki's head into the wall and kept a steady pressure there. This was enough to break the illusion, and Avaki collapsed from exhaustion. The next day, Avaki described his ordeal. After falling asleep from the food, a large creature started attacking him. He tried to fight back, but was eventually grabbed and crushed. Before it went too far, he started feeling other pain that couldn't be from the creature. It was enough to make him realize the creature was an illusion and snap out of it. Oda and Avaki finished helping the family and returned home. Capture Escaped Prisoners *'Rank:' B-rank *'Status:' One Success and One Failure Team Takato is assigned a prisoner collecting mission. Takato and Avaki followed Oda as he ran off to find his father, Odaiba, who had escaped. Meanwhile Kazō saw Naruto Uzumaki with his own prisoner. He learned that the Leaf ninja was searching for the rogue scientist, Giriko. The scientist had been the reason Kazō lost his arm when he was younger, so Kazō joined Naruto on his search. Kazō and Naruto were able to capture Giriko, but Odaiba had managed to get away from Takato after speaking to his son. Execution of Ryō Uchimono *'Rank:' A-rank *'Status:' Success When Kazō and Oda hear Ryō Uchimono, the Ishi-nin who had killed Avaki, had escaped captivity, they left the village on their own to find him. They arrived at a location in the Land of Fire and found the missing-nin facing off against the Leaf Village's Team Guy. They knew they couldn't interfere since they were not officially sent on the mission, but if Team Guy failed, they would not let Ryō leave alive. Before long, Takato appeared with direct orders for his team to eliminate Ryō. He and his two subordinates went into action and took out the shinobi, avenging their teammates death. Capture the Bandits *'Rank:' C-rank *'Status:' Success Kazō and Oda join the students of Konoha's Team 8 to give their aid in capturing some bandits. While searching, Kazō bets Shino he can create a trap that he can stand in without getting tangled in it. While initially failing, he was able to succeed in time to use it on the bandits when they found them. Kazō now had the Antlion Web technique at his disposal. '--' *'Rank:' B-rank *'Status:' Success (WIP) Category:DRAFT